AOL opens up IM

Today AOL announced a toolkit that enables developers to create their own version of the popular instant messaging product from AOL.

While AOL controls a large portion of the instant messaging market, it faces strong competition from Yahoo, Microsoft and Google. The company has staunchly fought off attempts competitors to link up with its service.

And AOL's not budging from that position. While the toolkit will let creators come up with their own versions of the AIM service, they'll still be prohibited from linking up to a competitor's network.